Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Some News for Tue Aug 16, 2011

STARTERS

Like the finale of Lost the drama is underwhelmingly over in England and Spain as Barcelona bought midfielder Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.
-Sid Lowe of the Guardian with the story.
-Phil Minshull of the BBC wonders how The Cesco Kid will fit in.

dN

LA Galaxy has made a huge move toward securing their front line by signing 31 year old Irish forward Robbie Keane from Tottenham. His has been signed to a Designated Player deal.
-Just a week ago I wrote that LA could not win MLS Cup without an upgrade to their forwards who were not getting the job done. Will this be the move that takes them over the top? Could be. Its a big one.
-With a 3 DP limit and LA already having filled those roster spots, where does that leave Juan Pablo Angel? You can assume that Landon Donovan and David Beckham have not been released or asked to take pay cuts.
-Head coach Bruce Arena's response to the situation: "When we have that solved, we'll be the first to let you know. I'm considering Donovan and Beckham as well." That dude is a scream.
-That quote and other details from Scott French of ESPN.
-Later in the day French reports that Angel is on his way to Chivas USA. Which means all he has to do is put his old socks and stuff in a box and move it down the hall to another locker room, then score a hat trick when the two teams next face off!

And Eddie Johnson is back in MLS too! But at which team? And can he still score? He is young enough.
-Here is the order of the teams for picking: Chivas USA, Houston, TFC, Chicago, KC, Seattle, Columbus, New York, RSL, San Jose, LA, Dallas, Colorado, Vancouver, Portland, DC, New England, Philly.
-Johnson has some recent off the field issues to deal with.

The funny part in all of this is that we have suspected for years and years that every FIFA member is corrupt, and now they are turning on each other, presumably out of sheer greed.

FIFA SCANDAL - BRAZIL

The main weight of the bribery scandal now moves to Brazil and the people in charge of the 2014 World Cup. Accusations say that Ricardo Teixeira the director of WC14 is up to his elbows in corruption and is set to profit in a big way.

So who is the man in Brazil these days that is trying to get to the bottom of this story? None other than former football star and now politician Romario!
-Check out his own website to see his curiosity in bloom. (In Portuguese)

Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman has set a new league record with 373 starts.

FC DALLAS

FCD acquired centerback Jack Stewart from NSC Minnesota Stars on a loan deal for the rest of this season, with an option to buy.

DC UNITED

First year professional Joe Willis not only made his debut but got the start at goalkeeper last weekend ahead of Steve Cronin who really struggled last week after Bill Hamid was red carded and was suspended.

SPORTINGKANSAS CITYSC

Asst coach John Pascarella was suspended for 3 games for going nuts on the referee crew after a loss to Seattle.

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The Bulls acquired defensive midfielder Stephane Auvray from KC in exchange for a future Superdraft pick.

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

SJE has signed a loan deal for 27 year old Ecuadoran forward Edmundo Zura.
-He has played 11 times for his national team.
-Zura was also on loan in Australia a few years ago.

MLS/USA RELATED RUMORS

Rangers are after Carlos Bocanegra to play centerback for them. He has been playing left fullback in France.

DENMARK - Superliga
Clarence Goodson - Brondy - played the whole game but drew 2-2 v SonderjyskE.
Conor O'Brien - SonderjyskE - came on as a sub in the 64th min as they drew 2-2 at Brondby.
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland - played the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Koge.
Chris Rolfe - AaB - started and went 83 min scoring the winning goal as they won 2-1 v Odense.
Brad Rusin - HB Koge - went the distance getting a yellow card and losing 2-0 at Nordsjaelland.

ENGLAND - Premier League
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - played the full match but drew 0-0 v Aston Villa.
Brad Friedel - Tottenham - game v Everton postponed.
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - on the bench as they drew 0-0 at Fulham.
Tim Howard - Everton - game at Tottenham postponed.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - started but came out in the 71st min as they drew 1-1 at Wigan.

FINLAND - Veikkausliiga
Giuseppe Funicello - Mariehamn - started, got a yellow card, and played the first half as they lost 4-0 at Jaro.
Mason Trafford - Mariehamn - played the entire match but lost 4-0 at Jaro.
Josh Wicks - Mariehamn - went the full 90 but lost 4-0 at Jaro.

FINLAND - Ykkonen
Dan Stevens - PS Kemi Kings - started and played 78 min as they lost 1-0 at Hameenlinna.
Jeremy Vuolo - AC Oulu - went the full 90 as they won 3-1 v Kooteepee.
Kellan Wilson - HIFK - on the bench as they won 3-0 v Espoo.

FRANCE - Ligue 1
Quentin Westberg - Evian - went the full 90 as they won 1-0 v Nice.

GERMANY - Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler - Nurnberg - went the full 90 getting a yellow card and losing 1-3 v Hannover.
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover - on the bench as they won 1-2 at Nurnberg.
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - came on as a sub in the 67th min as they tied 2-2 at Hamburg.
David Yelldell - Bayer Leverkusen - on the bench as they won 1-0 v Bremen.

GERMANY - 2 Bundesliga
Edson Buddle - Ingolstadt - came on as a sub in the 74th min and scored 1 min later as they tied 1-1 v FSV Frankfurt.
Ricardo Clark - Eintracht Frankfurt - on the bench for a 1-1 tie v Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Luis Robles - Karlsruher - on the bench as they lost 1-3 v Entract Braunschweig.
Matt Taylor - Paderborn - came on as a 67th min sub but lost 0-1 v Greuther Furth.
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich - on the bench as they won 4-0 v Erzgebirge.

NETHERLANDS - Eredivisie
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - came on as a sub in the 68th min but lost 2-0 at Twente.

NORWAY - NM Cupen - Quarterfinals
Sean Cunningham - Molde - on the bench as they lost 3-2 at Fredrikstad.
Josh Gatt - Molde - went the full 120 minutes getting a yellow card and losing 3-2 at Fredrikstad.

NORWAY - Eliteserien
Erik Benjaminsen - Stabaek - on the bench as they won 2-0 v Stromsgodset.
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek - played the full 90 as they won 2-0 v Stromsgodset.

NORWAY - 1 Divisjon
John Borrajo - HamKam - played the entire game as they won 0-3 at Bryne.
Steve Clark - Honefoss - went the distance in a scoreless draw at Bodo-Glimt.
Kyle Helton - Mjondalen - came on to start the second half as they drew 0-0 at Lov-Ham.
Kenneth Di Vita Jensen - Honefoss - on the bench as they drew 0-0 at Bodo-Glimt.

SCOTLAND - Premier League
Dominic Cervi - Celtic - on the bench as they won 5-1 v Dundee United.
Mo Edu - Rangers - started and scored a goal but also got 2 yellow cards and was ejected as they won 0-2 at Inverness.

SWEDEN - Allsvenskan Liga
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro - went the distance as they won 0-2 at Djurgarden.

SWEDEN - Superettan
Brian Edwards - Degerfors - played the whole match as they drew 1-1 at Assyriska.
Nick Noble - Ljungskile - went the distance and won 3-1 v Sundsvall.
Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms - went the full 90 as they won 1-3 at Qviding.
Michael Thomas - Ljungskile - played the entire game as they won 3-1 v Sundsvall.

PRIMERA DIVISIONIsaac Acuna - America - came on as a sub in the 81st min as they tied 2-2 at Tigres.
DaMarcus Beasley - Puebla - started and played all but 2nd half stoppage time as they drew 1-1 at Tijuana.
Joe Benny Corona - Tijuana - started and went 69 min as they drew 1-1 v Puebla.
Edgar Castillo - America - went the full 90 as they tied 2-2 at Tigres.
Herculez Gomez - Estudiantes Tecos - started and played 75 min as they won 2-0 at Atlas.
Jose Torres - Pachuca - started and played 69 min as they won 3-0 v Toluca.

LIGA DE ASCENSO (2nd division)
Marco Vidal - Leon - went the full 90 as they won 0-1 at Indios.

The T&T Express with the latest on Jack Warner pulling his team Joe Public out of the Pro-League just 2 weeks before the new season begins, thus putting all of his players out of work. Where does this leave the league itself?
-"The players are the priority. They (he players) cannot simply walk away and find something else to do. Their dreams, hopes and ambitions are invested in the T&T Pro League, the tip of the T&T football pathway. Those of us in charge of the League must face up to our responsibilities. We must not easily subject these young men to misery, failure and sleepless nights."-But obviously Jack Warner can.

ENGLAND

The Premier League season began on Sat Aug 13:

Recap du Nord: Zaba Daba Doo Man City and Bolton got off to romping 4-0 wins! While Chelsea and Arsensal had scoreless draws.

Recap du Nord: Toulouse, Montpellier, Caen and St Etienne are the 4 teams with 2 wins from 2 rounds. The champs Lille have a draw and a loss, and does oil money PSG. On the good side, promoted Evian has a win and tie, AND an American goalkeeper!

Recap du Nord: Schalke were the only team that stormed to a big win this round, while Hannover, Mainz and Bayern got road wins. But the big news was Dortmund went to Hoffenheim and got themselves beaten!

Recap du Nord: The top 3 all tied in their weekend games and remain exactly as they were, but #4 Vasco da Gama beat former #5 Palmeiras and moved with in 4 points of the top spot. The loss dropped Palmeiras to 6th place behind new #5 Botafogo who won.

If you love Spanish futbol they you will need to be checkin this out - Football Espana! Featuring great contributions by Guillem Balague, Michael Robinson, Phil Ball, Terry Venables and others. Edited by Ben Lyttleton. Season preview available now!